Jodie Foster made this statement last night at the Golden Globes, “I want to be seen, to be understood deeply and to be not so very lonely.”

Deep down we all long to be authentic and have authentic relationships. Yet so many of us are living a life behind masks because we are not the same on the inside as what we project on the outside. We project an image to suit the crowd we are with. We live in fear that someone will see the real “us” and won’t like what they see. Simon Tugwell in his book, The Beatitudes: Soundings in Christian Tradition, writes: “We hide behind pretty faces which we put on for the benefit of our public. And in time we may even forget that we are hiding, and think that our assumed face is what we really look like.”

Yet deep down there is the hunger to be fully known. Understood. Accepted. Loved. Valued. We were created for that. God created humans in His image – both male and female. Unified. Complete.

God created the man out of the dust and provided a perfect environment and purpose for the man. He had everything he needed. God looked at the situation and did not think it was good for the man to be alone so created a partner for him. She was literally part of him – there was intimacy from the beginning. We in Genesis read, “And the man and woman were both naked and were not ashamed.” Why would they be ashamed? They were part of the other. I am not sure naked is limited to flesh – as in no clothes – but in intimacy of soul and spirit

What does it mane to be Naked? Without protection, no covering, defenseless.

They were totally free with each other. Adam and Eve didn’t feel the need to be defensive. No one was judging them hence there was no shame. Theirs was not a complicated complicated relationship they were living in perfect unity with each other and with God. There were no longings, no injuries, no wounds, no fear, no worries. They were complete as He created them.

Can you try to imagine such a time…I wonder what it was like…

To be totally free, unashamed, content, joyful in living and purpose. Our original design was wholeness, completeness. We were created completely whole. We lacked nothing.

When Eve was tempted by Satan he made them think there was more than wholeness. When he said, “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5-5 NAS) He made them believe God was holding out on them.

The question he planted created a longing…they began to think they were not whole, complete. Was there something more? They wanted it.

When they disobeyed God and yielded to the temptation to be more than God created them to be, they lost their wholeness; they became broken.

Satan lied to them and they bought it.

And through them we are all fundamentally broken. We have searched for wholeness ever since – it is a lifelong quest to fill up the hole left by their sin.

Some seek to fill it with money, success, fame, sex, activity, relationships – there is no end to the ways we seek to meet the longing for completeness.

M. Robert Mulholland Jr. inInvitation to a Journeywrites: “The most profound yearning of the human spirit, which we try to fill with all sorts of inadequate substitutes, is the yearning for our completeness in the image of Christ.” We are fully known and fully loved. We are complete in Him.

It took a broken body, blood poured out to reverse Adam and Eve’s brokenness. It was Jesus’ death that brings hope to a person like Jodie Foster – to broken people like you and me!

Ruth Graham

“Transparent” is the word most people use to describe Ruth Graham.

No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband’s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter’s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter’s bulimia, her son’s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40.

Although born into the "famous" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she "had it all together". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin.

Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox & Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham & Friends Ministry.

Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Her life Bible verse is John 1:16.